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What is a dream?

In Islam, dreams constitute an essential part of the doctrine. There is a rich collection of precious and instructive Islamic Holy texts on dreams nature and meanings.

Muslims do believe that dreams are symbolic messages from God that would carry important meanings and future predictions for the human being.

The features of a complete scientific method for dreams interpretation are very obvious in the Islamic Holy texts. A huge and respected heritage of Muslim scholars’ writings about dreams interpretation is considered an important part of the Islamic library.

The idea of symbolic dream interpretation, or the belief that dreams incidents are just symbols that represent other hidden meanings has originated from two sources: Religion and the special nature of dreams.

Many dreams come with unusual, abnormal, and, sometimes, unrealistic incidents. When you dream of flying with two wings, or when you dream of your dead relative alive and talking to you, or when you dream you are in fire but not burning. All these unrealistic types of dreams and their likes have strengthened the common belief that dreams incidents do not represent their direct appearance, but they are just symbols of other hidden meanings.

The Islamic Holy Book (The Noble Koran) and religious sayings of The Prophet Mohammed (May Peace be upon him) tell many symbolic dreams and their interpretations.

Dreams symbols and their interpretation method in Psychology differ from the Islamic method.

In Psychology, the dream interpreter attempts to connect the symbol to suit and represent mental ideas, feelings and desires of the dreamer. The rules of dream interpretation in Psychology are very limited, unclear and mostly unwritten. Islam has a wide range and a huge number of written logic and universal rules of dream interpretation. In Islam, dreams symbols do not only represent the human ideas or feelings, but also could tell about the future incidents, give advice, or warn from a danger.

Another question, why dreams are symbolic? Why don’t they come in a direct and straight forward manner without any symbolism? Islam has the answer to this question. The Wisdom of God has willed to create symbolic dreams to distinguish dreams from God that hold important messages from the trivial dreams that are just a direct reflection to what a person may experience in daily life. In addition, as dreams from God may tell about the future, God’s wisdom willed to create them symbolic to make their interpretation probable but not certain, in order to prevent any one from knowing the certain and undoubted future. Dream Interpretation could tell you about the probable future, while God only knows the certain future.

Symbolic Dreams have many rules to explain and discuss … so … stay with us and don’t hesitate to ask in Dream Interpretation Journal.

It is not unusual to dream interpretation fans to hear or read about “dreams symbols”, but a big number of them might not exactly understand what does this expression mean? Or why do dream interpreters use it? And does it have a common definition? Or does it have a different meaning from one dream interpreter to another? And are all dreams symbolic? And why dreams are symbolic?

Before we discuss a “dream symbol”, let’s understand, first, what a symbol is. Simply, a symbol is something representative of another thing. In other words, a symbol is something we say, write, draw or use in any way to indicate something else. For example: a pigeon is a symbol of peace, a national flag is a symbol of a country, and the heart is a symbol of love, and so on.

Similarly, a “dream symbol” is something, or someone, or an incident appearing in a dream (an obvious dream item) that represents and indicates something else, or someone else, or some other meaning (a hidden interpretation). For example: you might have a dream of a black color (a dream item or symbol), and it could be just a symbol of sadness (hidden meaning – interpretation).

A dream interpreter’s task is to discover the hidden true meaning beyond the clear dream symbols, and to explain it to the dreamer.

During my years of dream interpretation experience, It was normal to me, to other dream interpreters, and to many dreamers to call “dream parts” symbols, or to use expressions like “interpretation of symbols” of a specific dream.

Dreaming is a human phenomenon. Everyone should have dreamt at least once during life. Dreams are not optional, as you have no choice either to have or to avoid them. Dreams often come in a surprising and unusual way, which is enough to alert the mind.

To many people, dreaming is a mysterious and strange world that tempts them to ask, search and gain more knowledge about it. Others believe that a dream can tell them more about themselves, their inner mind, and the hidden corners inside their personalities, or even their future.

Think …

If you are interested in dreams and dream interpretation, what are the personal reasons behind your interest?

If you looked at the small box on your desk, you might notice, at first glance, that it was cubic, brown, empty, and made of cardboard. But, if you saw the same box in a dream, you might not be aware of some or all of these details. In such a dream, you might be aware of seeing a brown box, or be aware of seeing just a box with no further awareness of any specific color.

In fact, you may be aware of a specific color in a dream, if it functions as a meaningful symbol, but if not; it will be totally missing in a dream and you will never be aware of any color.

Many psychologists claimed to have measured various dreaming time spans during sleeping. However, in fact, your awareness of a dream period could be very different from such measurements. For example, you may sleep for less than a one-minute snap, while having a dream, which you believe that it has taken a very long time. Similarly, you may sleep all night long, while having a dream, which you believe that it has taken a very short time. In addition, you may have a dream, during which you are not aware of any period or timing at all.

As a dream interpreter, I am mostly interested in your awareness of dreaming time, rather than psychologists’ measurements of it. In fact, your awareness of dreaming time adds to the meaning of your dream, while brain waves measurements of dreaming time is irrelevant to dream interpretation, and relates more to medicine.

Dreaming is not only different from the waking life in content, but also in shape.

A dream should contain at least one view in order to call it a dream. Awareness of “a dream” that has no views at all during sleep (only talking, smell, feeling…etc.) does exist in rare cases, but I should not call it a dream then. I will discuss such unusual types of sleeping experiences later.

A dream is not often a fully detailed experience, as the waking life may be, but on the contrary, a dream would usually have a selective behavior.

During the waking hours, when you are normally and fully aware, you could notice every detail in anything or anyone around you, even minor details, if you want to do that. A dream does not come this way. During a dream, you may see or experience specific items, views, and sounds …etc., but not every expected detail of the person or the thing.

You can notice that too! For example, if you had a dream about the living room at home, you might be aware of the place during the dream, or you might be aware of specific details, but you would not be aware of all details, except only few particular ones.

Most of dreams come in an unusual shape, even if you experience usual things in a dream. Although, many dreamers may have dreams about family members, friends, or any usual incidents in their daily lives, many of them reported to have experienced what they usually know in their waking life in an unusual shape or nature in their dreams.

Remember …

Try to think of a previous dream during which you saw something or someone you have already known, but in an unusual form or shape, or behaving in an unusual manner.

Think …

Have you ever dreamt of a family member or a friend in an unusual shape? Or Have you ever dreamt of a usual place in an unusual shape?